2 `Speak unto the sons of Israel, and take from them each a rod, for a father's house, from all their princes, for the house of their fathers, twelve rods; the name of each thou dost write on his rod,
`And these `are' the names of the men who stand with you: `For Reuben -- Elizur son of Shedeur. `For Simeon -- Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai. `For Judah -- Nahshon son of Amminadab. `For Issachar -- Nathaneel son of Zuar. `For Zebulun -- Eliab son of Helon. `For the sons of Joseph -- for Ephraim: Elishama son of Ammihud: for Manasseh -- Gamaliel son of Pedahzur. `For Benjamin -- Abidan son of Gideoni. `For Dan -- Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai. `For Asher -- Pagiel son of Ocran. `For Gad -- Eliasaph son of Deuel. `For Naphtali -- Ahira son of Enan.' These `are' those called of the company, princes of the tribes of their fathers; they `are' heads of the thousands of Israel.
And those encamping eastward towards the sun-rising, `are of' the standard of the camp of Judah, by their hosts; and the prince of the sons of Judah `is' Nahshon, son of Amminadab; and his host, and their numbered ones, `are' four and seventy thousand and six hundred. And those encamping by him `are of' the tribe of Issachar; and the prince of the sons of Issachar `is' Nethaneel son of Zuar; and his host, and its numbered ones, `are' four and fifty thousand and four hundred. The tribe of Zebulun; and the prince of the sons of Zebulun `is' Eliab son of Helon; and his host, and its numbered ones, `are' seven and fifty thousand and four hundred; all those numbered of the camp of Judah `are' a hundred thousand, and eighty thousand, and six thousand, and four hundred, by their hosts; they journey first. The standard of the camp of Reuben `is' southward, by their hosts; and the prince of the sons of Reuben `is' Elizur son of Shedeur; and his host, and its numbered ones, `are' six and forty thousand and five hundred. And those encamping by him `are of' the tribe of Simeon; and the prince of the sons of Simeon `is' Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai; and his host, and their numbered ones, `are' nine and fifty thousand and three hundred. And the tribe of Gad; and the prince of the sons of Gad `is' Eliasaph son of Reuel; and his host, and their numbered ones, `are' five and forty thousand and six hundred and fifty. All those numbered of the camp of Reuben `are' a hundred thousand, and one and fifty thousand, and four hundred and fifty, by their hosts; and they journey second. And the tent of meeting -- the camp of the Levites -- hath journeyed in the midst of the camps; as they encamp so they journey, each at his station by their standards. The standard of the camp of Ephraim, by their hosts, `is' westward; and the prince of the sons of Ephraim `is' Elishama son of Ammihud; and his host, and their numbered ones, `are' forty thousand and five hundred. And by him `is' the tribe of Manasseh; and the prince of the sons of Manasseh `is' Gamaliel son of Pedahzur; and his host, and their numbered ones, `are' two and thirty thousand, and two hundred. And the tribe of Benjamin; and the prince of the sons of Benjamin `is' Abidan son of Gideoni; and his host, and their numbered ones, `are' five and thirty thousand and four hundred. All those numbered of the camp of Ephraim `are' a hundred thousand, and eight thousand, and a hundred, by their hosts; and they journey third. The standard of the camp of Dan `is' northward, by their hosts; and the prince of the sons of Dan `is' Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai; and his host, and their numbered ones, `are' two and sixty thousand and seven hundred. And those encamping by him `are of' the tribe of Asher; and the prince of the sons of Asher `is' Pagiel son of Ocran; and his host, and their numbered ones, `are' one and forty thousand and five hundred. And the tribe of Naphtali; and the prince of the sons of Naphtali `is' Ahira son of Enan; and his host, and their numbered ones, `are' three and fifty thousand and four hundred.
And the standard of the camp of the sons of Judah journeyeth in the first `place', by their hosts, and over its host `is' Nahshon son of Amminadab. And over the host of the tribe of the sons of Issachar `is' Nathaneel son of Zuar. And over the host of the tribe of the sons of Zebulun `is' Eliab son of Helon; And the tabernacle hath been taken down, and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari have journeyed, bearing the tabernacle. And the standard of the camp of Reuben hath journeyed, by their hosts, and over its host `is' Elizur son of Shedeur. And over the host of the tribe of the sons of Simeon `is' Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai. And over the host of the tribe of the sons of Gad `is' Eliasaph son of Deuel; And the Kohathites have journeyed, bearing the tabernacle, and the `others' have raised up the tabernacle until their coming in. And the standard of the camp of the sons of Ephraim hath journeyed, by their hosts, and over its host `is' Elishama son of Ammihud. And over the host of the tribe of the sons of Manasseh `is' Gamalial son of Pedahzur. And over the host of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin `is' Abidan son of Gideoni. And the standard of the camp of the sons of Dan hath journeyed (rearward to all the camps), by their hosts, and over its host `is' Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai. And over the host of the tribe of the sons of Asher `is' Pagiel son of Ocran. And over the host of the tribe of the sons of Naphtali `is' Ahira son of Enan.
`And thou, son of man, take to thee one stick, and write on it, For Judah, and for the sons of Israel, his companions; and take another stick, and write on it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and all the house of Israel, his companions, and bring them near one unto another, to thee, for one stick, and they have become one in thy hand. `And when sons of thy people speak unto thee, saying, Dost thou not declare to us what these `are' to thee? Speak unto them, Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I am taking the stick of Joseph, that `is' in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his companions, and have given them unto him, with the stick of Judah, and have made them become one stick, and they have been one in My hand. And the sticks on which thou writest have been in thy hand before thine eyes,
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Numbers 17
Commentary on Numbers 17 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
(Or ch.17:16-28). Confirmation of the High-Priesthood of Aaron. - Whilst the Lord had thus given a practical proof to the people, that Aaron was the high priest appointed by Him for His congregation, by allowing the high-priestly incense offered by Aaron to expiate His wrath, and by removing the plague; He also gave them a still further confirmation of His priesthood, by a miracle which was well adapted to put to silence all the murmuring of the congregation.
Numbers 17:1-5
He commanded Moses to take twelve rods of the tribe-princes of Israel, one for the fathers' house of each of their tribes, and to write upon each the name of the tribe; but upon that of the tribe of Levi he was to write Aaron's name, because each rod was to stand for the head of their fathers' houses, i.e., for the existing head of the tribe; and in the case of Levi, the tribe-head was Aaron. As only twelve rods were taken for all the tribes of Israel, and Levi was included among them, Ephraim and Manasseh must have been reckoned as the one tribe of Joseph, as in Deuteronomy 27:12. These rods were to be laid by Moses in the tabernacle before the testimony, or ark of the covenant (Exodus 25:21; Exodus 29:42). And there the rod of the man whom Jehovah chose, i.e., entrusted with the priesthood (see Numbers 16:5), would put forth shoots, to quiet the murmuring of the people. שׁכך , Hiph ., to cause to sink, to bring to rest, construed with מעל in a pregnant signification, to quiet in such a way that it will not rise again.
Numbers 17:6-11
Moses carried out this command. And when he went into the tabernacle the following morning, behold Aaron's rod of the house of Levi had sprouted, and put forth shoots, and had borne blossoms and matured almonds. And Moses brought all the rods out of the sanctuary, and gave every man his own; the rest, as we may gather from the context, being all unchanged, so that the whole nation could satisfy itself that God had chosen Aaron. Thus was the word fulfilled which Moses had spoken at the commencement of the rebellion of the company of Korah (Numbers 16:5), and that in a way which could not fail to accredit him before the whole congregation as sent of God.
So far as the occurrence itself is concerned, there can hardly be any need to remark, that the natural interpretation which has lately been attempted by Ewald , viz., that Moses had laid several almond rods in the holy place, which had just been freshly cut off, that he might see the next day which of them would flower the best during the night, is directly at variance with the words of the text, and also with the fact, that a rod even freshly cut off, when laid in a dry place, would not bear ripe fruit in a single night. The miracle which God wrought here as the Creator of nature, was at the same time a significant symbol of the nature and meaning of the priesthood. The choice of the rods had also a bearing upon the object in question. A man's rod was the sign of his position as ruler in the house and congregation; with a prince the rod becomes a sceptre, the insignia of rule (Genesis 49:10). As a severed branch, the rod could not put forth shoots and blossom in a natural way. But God could impart new vital powers even to the dry rod. And so Aaron had naturally no pre-eminence above the heads of the other tribes. But the priesthood was founded not upon natural qualifications and gifts, but upon the power of the Spirit, which God communicates according to the choice of His wisdom, and which He had imparted to Aaron through his consecration with holy anointing oil. It was this which the Lord intended to show to the people, by causing Aaron's rod to put forth branches, blossom, and fruit, through a miracle of His omnipotence; whereas the rods of the other heads of the tribes remained as barren as before. In this way, therefore, it was not without deep significance that Aaron's rod not only put forth shoots, by which the divine election might be recognised, but bore even blossom and ripe fruit. This showed that Aaron was not only qualified for his calling, but administered his office in the full power of the Spirit, and bore the fruit expected of him. The almond rod was especially adapted to exhibit this, as an almond-tree flowers and bears fruit the earliest of all the trees, and has received its name of שׁקד , “awake,” from this very fact (cf. Jeremiah 1:11).
God then commanded (Numbers 17:10, Numbers 17:11) that Aaron's rod should be taken back into the sanctuary, and preserved before the testimony, “ for a sign for the rebellious, that thou puttest an end to their murmuring, and they die not .” The preservation of the rod before the ark of the covenant, in the immediate presence of the Lord, was a pledge to Aaron of the continuance of his election, and the permanent duration of his priesthood; though we have no need to assume, that through a perpetual miracle the staff continued green and blossoming. In this way the staff became a sign to the rebellious, which could not fail to stop their murmuring.
Numbers 17:12-13
This miracle awakened a salutary terror in all the people, so that they cried out to Moses in mortal anguish, “ behold, we die, we perish, we all perish! Every one who comes near to the dwelling of Jehovah dies; are we all to die? ” Even if this fear of death was no fruit of faith, it was fitted for all that to prevent any fresh outbreaks of rebellion on the part of the rejected generation.